Creating a New Garden

While you are dreaming, you should think about how much privacy you want, not just from your neighbors, but from your family. Maybe you would love a spot for sunbathing while you read your favorite book. If you plan to have a hot tub or spa at some time in the future, you may want to run electricity out to the planned area and to plant evergreen shrubs for privacy during the winter.

If you want to have space for entertaining, it is a good idea to mark out the space using stakes and string to find out how the space feels and functions. A deck or terrace which is the same size as your living room will feel much smaller than your living room. This is because scale in a garden is different from scale in a house. In a house, 12 foot (4 meters) ceilings will feel tall, but 12 feet is short for a tree. Also, if there is ample space in the garden, people will feel restricted if confined to a small deck. The best approach is to stake out the area and place outdoor furniture within the strings, you can even invite friends over to find out how the space will function at parties.

Put together a wish list, include everything that you and your family would like to have on the property, then begin to eliminate. One of the most common failures in garden design is to include too many features, simplicity is always best. Once you have come with a list of what you want, it is a good idea to create a plan on paper. Remember that gardens are three dimensional, I always position trees by driving tall stakes in the ground and viewing the stake from all parts of the garden, it helps me to visualize how the mature tree will look. Gardening has often been compared to painting, but it is really closer to sculpture. A plan on paper is just a guide, feel free to alter your plan if it doesn't feel right when translated into three dimensions.

Maintenance is an important consideration, especially if you are a beginning gardener, try to figure out how much maintenance your design will require once it is established. When you are planning your garden, think of installing some sort of irrigation system, at the very least you should make sure that there are plenty of hose bibs.

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